On the walls I see pictures of people I know from TV and I wonder if they’re all in the building right now. I also wonder if Gavin works in a building like this when he does his TV show.
“Quickly, Joan!”
It’s hard to catch up to Felicia with the Gibson on my back. She puts a key in a door and brings me into a room. It’s bigger than my bedroom at home and it has a leather couch and a coffee table and my very own bathroom. There’s even a mirror with those special lightbulbs around it.
“Did you bring the paperwork?” Felicia says.
I sit on the shiny couch and reach into my guitar case and hand the papers to Felicia. I stay very still while Felicia looks them over. I drew Mom’s signature in pencil first and went over it with pen.
“Who’s Gavin?” Felicia says. “Is he a member of your family?”
“Pretty much.”
“Is he an uncle, grandfather, what?”
Felicia waits for my answer. “Uncle,” I decide.
“It’ll have to do. And when exactly will he be arriving?”
“I don’t know. Soon, maybe.”
Felicia looks like she smells a fart. It wasn’t me. “Do you have his phone number so I can give him a call?”
I shake my head and now Felicia is looking at me the way Mom does when I tell her something bad and she hopes I’m lying. “Your parents sent you to New York all by yourself? Why am I not surprised?”
I have no idea.
She fans her face with her hand and writes something on her pad. “Okay, I’ll be right back and we’ll do your pre-interview and then we’ll get you off to hair and makeup. Are you hungry?”
“Yes. Very.” I should have let Gavin make me breakfast.
“We’ll get you something from craft service,” Felicia says, walking to the door.
“Wait. When do I get my money?”
“Your uncle can fill out the forms later,” Felicia says. “You’ll receive your check in six to eight weeks.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“Excuse me?”
“Johnny Cash.”
Felicia shuts the door.
In six weeks the studio will be gone and it’ll be too late. I need to get paid right now.
I shove a piece of bubble gum in my mouth and start blowing bubbles. It’s all about watching the bubbles get big and then hearing them burst. I blow and pop, blow and pop, and then I remember: I’m hanging backstage in my very own dressing room before going on a real television show.
I’m nervous but I think it’s the good kind of nervous, the kind that Gavin was telling me about. I’ll play my song and after people hear it, everything will change and no one will be mad at me anymore because they’ll be too busy smiling at me and what I’ve done. Something special. Something to remember.
THE MINDY LOVE SHOW
ANNOUNCER
And here’s your host, Mindy Love!
[Cheers and applause]
MINDY
Who loves you?
CROWD
Mindy!
MINDY
And I love you back. Today on the show we’ve got an extraordinary group of youngsters whose talents will surprise you, delight you, and, in one case, maybe even save your life. We’ll be talking to an eleven-year-old premed student who’ll receive his MD before his friends are halfway through high school, a set of master-chef twins who count Mario Batali and Geoffrey Zakarian among their many fans, and an eight-year-old reptile expert who just returned from an expedition in Honduras and already has a new species of snake named after him. But first, it’s my pleasure to introduce a special young lady with an extremely rare condition known as highly superior autobiographical memory, or HSAM. There are fewer than thirty people in the world with this condition and the person you’re about to meet is the youngest one by about twenty years. She’s only ten years old, and this is her very first television appearance. Please welcome a truly one-of-a-kind guest, Joan Sully!
[Cheers and applause]
MINDY
Well, hello, Joan. Aren’t you adorable. Thank you for coming on my show.
JOAN
Actually, I like to be called Joan Lennon. Not Joan Sully.
MINDY
Like John Lennon, the musician?
JOAN
Yes.
MINDY
And I see you brought your guitar.
JOAN
Yes.
MINDY
Joan, tell us about yourself. Where are you from?
JOAN
Jersey City, New Jersey.
MINDY
Any brothers or sisters?
JOAN
No. But my parents always talk about having another kid.
MINDY
And what about Mom and Dad? Do they have good memories?
JOAN
My mom has a great memory. My dad doesn’t.
MINDY
Just like my husband. [Laughter] And what do Mom and Dad do for a living?
JOAN
Like, for a job?
MINDY
Yes. What are their jobs?
JOAN
My mom is a teacher. My dad used to make music for commercials and movies and stuff.
MINDY
Dad doesn’t work now?
JOAN
He does. He works with my grandpa and my uncle. Not the uncle who might be coming here today, the other one.
MINDY
I see. And where are Mom and Dad now?
JOAN
My mom is tutoring. I don’t know where exactly my dad is.
MINDY
Are you alone a lot?
JOAN
I guess so. Kind of.
MINDY
That must be hard. Do you use your memories to escape?
JOAN
I don’t know.
MINDY
What I mean is, do you find it easier to think about your memories than to think about what’s happening around you?
JOAN
Um. I don’t know.
MINDY
What’s your favorite memory?
JOAN
Probably when I recorded my new song with Dad and Gavin. I mean, my uncle.
MINDY
When was that?
JOAN
July twentieth. It was a Saturday.
MINDY
That’s amazing. Do you always remember the day of the week?
JOAN
Oh. Yeah. Starting around age five.
MINDY
So let me understand. You remember every day of your life, including the day of the week, from today all the way back until you were age five? Is that right?
JOAN
Yes.
MINDY
Incredible. And how about before age five? Do you remember anything before that?
JOAN
Most of it. I just don’t know all the days. The movies aren’t so clear from when I was a baby.
MINDY
You say movies. What type of movies are we talking about?
JOAN
When I think of the day, I see a movie of what happened, but I’m not in the movie, I’m watching it.
MINDY
Tell me, what day of the week was December ninth, 2011?
JOAN
It’s a Friday and I’m at school and Ms. Dudley is teaching us about penguins that live all the way at the bottom of Australia. She puts us in groups, but I don’t like my group because Tracy is in it and I don’t like Tracy.
MINDY
Did Tracy bully you? Did she pick on you?
JOAN
Tracy is a boy. He doesn’t pick on anyone. Everyone picks on him because he smells.
MINDY
Okay, well, I’m sure Tracy is a nice boy. How about August third, 2006? Can you tell me about that day?
JOAN
I’m not sure. I was probably home that day. Maybe we went to the park? I was only three.
MINDY
Let’s try a later date. How about March twenty-sixth, 2009? What day was that?
JOAN
A Thursday.
MINDY
Is something wrong?
JOAN
[Inaudible]
MINDY